The subject invention relates to an electrical connector design and an electrical connector assembly providing the alternative to have or not have a mating-assist lever to assist in the mating of two joining electrical connector halves.
In several different applications or industries, particularly in the automotive industry, electrical connector designs are standardized on various different harnesses or on various different discrete ends of a particular harness.
Just by way of example, it is common to provide as part of a wiring harness, wiring which extends into the automobile body, for example, and be connected to a mating connector at or under the driver's seat. Such connections can be used for the power seat having multiple ways of adjustment including up, back, tilt, and lumbar, as well as providing the opportunity for multiple variances of seat heating. In such an example, it would be common to provide multiple sizes of terminals depending on the power or amperage that needs to run through the cable, and thus the connectors need to accommodate multiple sizes of terminals as well.
It is also common that the connectors themselves are standardized to provide the maximum number of terminals required to accommodate all of the terminals for the maximum number of features allowable, but in the case where the seat heater or the electrical adjustment is not required, those particular terminals are not loaded. Thus, it is also common in the industry to have identical connector housings with a variety of different mating forces depending on the number of electrical terminals actually loaded in the mating connectors.
It is also common in the industry to have standardized maximum mating forces which are allowable for the assembly line in automobile plants. One such standard, known as USCAR, has designated 75 Newtons as a maximum mating force. USCAR is an umbrella organization made up of automotive manufacturers for joint research. This is the maximum force that can be designed into a connector assembly, where the two connectors are mated into a latched condition by hand including no assistance in the connection. Above the 75-Newton requirement, some type of mating assistance between the two connectors is required.
The object then of the present invention is to provide a connector design having a plurality of alternatives to accommodate all of the above-mentioned requirements.